State of Emergency declared for Quincy after severe weather

Nearly 70 mph winds knock down bricks in building on Jail Alley in Quincy.

Photo courtesy: Ted Derhake

Photo Courtesy: J.D. Miller

City and county officials set up an emergency operations center at the Adams County 911 Center in Quincy. (Photo Courtesy of the Adams County Emergency Management Facebook page.

QUINCY, Ill. (WGEM) -

Adams County residents are dealing with major storm damage Tuesday morning. Thousands of residents are still without power after severe storms Monday night, with no specific restoration times. Many area roads are blocked to traffic, piled with debris and uprooted trees.

Quincy Mayor Kyle Moore declared a State of Emergency Monday night after a strong storm ripped through the city and surrounding area.

The Adams County Emergency Operations Center holds a press conference at noon Tuesday for officials to give updates on the damage and most recent assessments.

There are damage reports all across Quincy. Multiple trees down, homes damaged and power lines down. Meteorologist Brian Inman said the severe thunderstorm that tore through Quincy just after 6 p.m. Monday evening with winds as high as 70 mph.

Quincy resident Joshua Clowers says he has been going around town looking at the damage in the early hours Tuesday, since the power was out and he couldn't sleep with the heat and humidity. After seeing a good portion of Quincy, he says it's safe to say he's never seen anything like this in Quincy.

"No I haven't. Not this bad. Not in Quincy, no," Clowers said. "It's been pretty bad though in other places on TV I've seen, but not here. The whole entire town is terrible right now."

Meanwhile, due to the loss of power, many stop lights are out. Drivers are urged to be cautious and remember, when a stoplight is out, treat it like a four-way stop.

"We will be clearing up major streets first, and there's an undetermined number of houses without power," Moore said. Officials say crews are working extensively to clear the roads, but most routes are expected to be impassable throughout the day Tuesday.

A State of Disaster was also issued for Adams County. Emergency Management Director John Simon warned people not to drive around town to look at the damage. He urged people to stay home so crews could get the streets safely cleared.

Ameren spokesperson Marcelyn Love said 34,300 customers were without power at one time, with approximately 20,000 of those in Quincy. She said the Ameren storm trailer was deployed to the area.

Officials say an Ameren crew of about 300 people, along 30 tree crews, was sent out overnight. So far, gas lines are the priority, but some residents did see power restored overnight Monday.

At 8:30 Tuesday morning, Adams Electric Cooperative said its subs were back on and its remaining outages were mainly in Adams County, with 461 open tickets. Bill Stalder, with the coop, said there were still about 30 to 40 broken poles. He said 12 outside linemen and two contract tree crew members had been working since Monday night alongside 10 Adams Electric employees.

"We expect to be working throughout the day [Tuesday] to restore outages and will rest the crews [Tuesday] evening," Stalder said.

Love said several gas lines in Quincy were ripped up by trees. She said the situation would be a process. Adams County Emergency Management asks residents to be patient, as it could take days for crews to address power lines down in yards while they prioritize clean-up efforts.

"There were several gas leaks in the area," Love said. "Our main concern is making the area safe before repairs can be made."